Google Releases Gmail Notifier

Philipp Lenssen writes "After several unofficial, screen-scraping Gmail utilities, Google now released the official Gmail Notifier (Beta) for Windows. It will sit in the Windows tray, alerting you of new emails in your account (if you are lucky enough to have one already). Additionally, the Gmail Notifier can connect 'mailto:'-links in web pages to Gmail."

this is awesome

this is just one of the tools i've been waiting for. now if only gmail could have a "save as draft" feature...i can switch from my current webmail provider to gmail.

save a draft

They say they are working on it. [google.com]

You got mail!

When will it learn to say "You got mail!" ?

Re:You got mail!

Probably more like "You've G'mail!"

Re:You got mail!

When will it learn to say "You got mail!" ?

When the IQ of the gmail users drops by about 50 points?

Re:You got mail!

Actually, it sort of can. A long time ago I had my outlook configured to play a wav of a girl saying "Die Bitch"...but I turned it off a short while ago.

Well, I installed the Gmail notifier, forgot how loud my speakers were set, and heard

"DIE BITCH" loud enough to make me spill my drink as I watched email notification pop ups in the right hand corner of my screen.

So as a warning to others and a reply to you...the notifier will play sounds for incoming mail.

For me, this article was a great and amusing way to start my Friday. Now I may buy a couple shares of Google stock!

new mail notification sound

From the FAQ [google.com], it also says that it can play a sound when new mail arrives. And that sound is actually just the Windows New Mail Notification sound in the Control Panel.

And it's been mentioned before, but I still think the Gmail Loader [marklyon.org] is still a handy utility. I'm migrating a lot of my mail and accounts in to Gmail and this thing was a huge help.

Re:new mail notification sound

Yes, it does still have that limitation. And yes, it does seem to be on the Gmail side and I'm pretty sure there isn't much that can be done about it (short of Gmail making an import mail utility to function correctly).

But ya, it does kind of suck. But when I imported my stuff, I'm just importing old mail and I really don't care what the date is (for searching or not) - because if I want to refer to any of it, I'll just be searching by it's content.

Re:new mail notification sound

Actually, after looking, doing something like "find all within x days" is not difficult at all, and is in fact the only way you can search for a date.

Gmail->Search Options:
Date within: [1d, 3d, 1w, 2w, 1mo, 2mo, 6mo, 1y] of [e.g. today, Friday, Mar 26 or 3/26/2004].

Doing this within 3d of 12/5/02 turned up fourteen messages that were sent in that range. Which is about accurate. Now, I'm not going to go through four years of email to see if that got them all, but I can nail a date down that small, I'll remember another characteristic of the message to search on, rather than the date.

The whole point of gmail's design (i.e. no folders, only labels) is that you filter/label mail, which I did as I migrated all my mail. I have email from eight classes segregated, and it broke the messages into conversations properly, rather than each separate message displayed on it's own line.

Google has designed gmail better than I thought it could be done. There are some features there (undoubtedly more undocumented) that I would never have thought of including. For instance the date range search!

The fact that it dispalys all my migrated mail as received july 27 is odd considering what I just said, but all that mail is archived and there only for me to dig back for something specific.

Oh, and the spam filtering is aggressive (almost too much so), which I think is great, compared to missing every few spams and dropping them to the inbox.

Re:new mail notification sound

Actually, after looking, doing something like "find all within x days" is not difficult at all, and is in fact the only way you can search for a date.

<sheepishly>

I'm wrong, it does not hit migrated mail dates properly when searching on date. I mistyped my date and only glanced down at what looked like was correct. Upon fixing it, gmail does not search this way.

/me goes to submit feature request to gmail team

Re:new mail notification sound

Don't you think that your co-workers would be a bit amazed hearing Stephen Hawking say 'Do you need a bigger penis ?' from out of your cubicle ? :D

Re:new mail notification sound

With so many applications wanting to put themselves in the tray. I think its about time we had a super tray. The super tray will notify us when something important in the regular tray is happening

How long....

How long until someone reverse-engineers this API and makes an OS X and Linux client available?

Re:How long....

They've said that about Google Toolbar for about a year now, too.

Re:How long....

What about the gmail notifier [mozilla.org] Firefox extension?

Re:How long....

Hey, THANK YOU. This works great, one little problem, your link goes to an old version. Here http://nexgenmedia.net/extensions/ [nexgenmedia.net] is the developers page for the latest version. The version you link to has issues but once I updated it works perfectly.

Re:How long....

There is already a Mozilla (and Firefox) extension for this, GMail Notifier (homepage http://www.nexgenmedia.net/extensions/ [nexgenmedia.net]). It works with both the Linux and windows versions of the browser.

Why not a small Java app?

I mean, come on, Win32 only?

Re:Why not a small Java app?

I don't know why the parent was marked a troll because its a valid question.

The fact is for close integration with the operating system (like putting stuff in the tray in windows) is impossible to do with out using API's that break portability.

If you break portability what the point in doing it in java the first place?

Re:Why not a small Java app?

You can indeed put a Java app in the Windows system tray. The same code will also put it in the Gnome system tray in Linux for example - all part of the Java Desktop open source tools at;

http://community.java.net/javadesktop/

No point?

I keep my browser open all the time (including a tab to gmail) and it refreshes automatically. I don't see the benefit, unless having Yet More processes running is a good thing.

Wow... Breakthrough

Now I will have an up to the minute report of exactly how MUCH spam im getting. And with a Gig of email space, I can learn about Coeds who want to show me thier cams, and low cost Ci@lis, maybe even learn how to start a buisness-- all without having to clear my inbox every two days.

GTRAY

Gtray has been working FABULOUSLY for me.

Don't need to switch unless there are more options that google can provide; which from the website there isn't any.

http://torrez.us/gtray

Yo Grark

FireFox extension

I've been using something similar as an extension to FireFox. It works pretty darn well, but you obviously have to keep your web browser open for it to work. This program might be pretty cool, I'll have to give it a shot.

For those interested, the Firefox extension can be found here:
Gmail Notifier [nexgenmedia.net]

Re:FireFox extension

Heh, beat me to it!

In addition to this, add on WebmailCompose [jedbrown.net] (previously GmailCompose [jedbrown.net]) and you've got pretty much the full functionality of this gmail toolbar, plus it's cross-platform, for those of you who use several platforms and want a more unified computing experience.

For the record, i've been terribly happy with this combination for a while. Together with the great featureset of Gmail, it makes Webmail actually pleasant to use!

So when do we get Gmessenger?

This is obviously the first step by google towards integration of search and the personal interaction space.
How long before our contact lists in gmail are moved to orkut and into a messenger?

For Mac users

Mac users have this http://homepage.mac.com/carsten.guenther/GmailStat us/ [mac.com] as a freeware option.

Google being evil already?

I bet this has caused some confusion in /. readers minds.

Google...good

Windows...evil

Windows only Google app...does not compute!

Swamped by GMail invites ?

I wonder if someone here has the same problem as me: I get constantly swamped with GMail invites. Far too much people are sending me these stupid invites and it's really getting on my nerves.
Well, it was fun for the first 20 or so, but now it's really annoying. Even people I just remotely know are sending me this stuff.
I usually sign them up with bogus data just to stop this madness but it doesn't really work.
Does anyone know when Google is stopping its beta test ? I hope soon otherwise I see a nervous breakdown coming.

Re:Swamped by GMail invites ?

Damn stupid social interaction!

Re:Swamped by GMail invites ?

Well, it was fun for the first 20 or so, but now it's really annoying. Even people I just remotely know are sending me this stuff.

What's your email address?

Re:Swamped by GMail invites ?

Dude, give them to the military.

http://www.gmail4troops.com/ [gmail4troops.com]

Gmail Notifier

This is something that has been in the fires for a while for Firefox users. Doron Rosenberg authored an extension that allows the same functionality. You can find it here [nexgenmedia.net].

skins

Why don't they just skin Windows? They have the toolbar, mail checker client thing, searcher bar that can sit in the task bar. I mean, just have google be a part of every single app on the desktop.

And for autohiders?

I mean those of us who autohide the taskbar. It's not clear whether the notifier will pop up or not (and we may not want it to - the possibility for distraction is obvious).

You can get it to play a sound, but the FAQ says it may notify in error up to two minutes after all new mail's been cleared. Beep! Beep! BEEP! Urrgh....

This makes GMail 2x better

This is great! I know people who have been holding back on using GMail because of the notification thing. I sometimes still get email at my Yahoo account, and I am notified when I receive them. Every time the Yahoo notification thing pops up I am reminded of how almost-but-not-quite perfect GMail is. This little icon in the tray will end up being a bigger deal than it looks.

I've installed it and it works great. It uses the same slide-up text bubble idiom that AIM and Yahoo and Thunderbird use. But the bubble not only tells you that you have mail but also who it is from and if there is room, the first part of the text of the email. If you missed it, you can right click and select 'Tell me again...' and it will scroll through all your unread emails, so you can get a quick overview of what's going on in your Inbox right now without having to use your browser. Much nicer.

Maybe it's me, maybe it's not

I don't understand why we are jumping through hoops to have auto refresing JavaScript-full convoluted html webmail that interacts with some little utility in your tray. I mean, I understand the convenience of webmail, but I think that installing this is whre I would draw the line between simple & easy and flakey & klunky.

Isn't 100% easier and more smooth to interact with POP3 and your favorite email software? Maybe it's just me. I've been using a hosting service for my website and email and I guess having that much control over the set up and delivery methods has made me skeptical of free webmail in general.

Re:Maybe it's me, maybe it's not

Isn't 100% easier and more smooth to interact with POP3 and your favorite email software?

I think the idea is your favorite email software isn't available everywhere. If you're ever using a computer other than your home desktop, and you want to read your email, you don't have the option of launching up whatever email client you like-- because the computer won't have it. Probably there will just be just Outlook Express, and you'll have to set up a user and configure your servers or whatnot. Not fun. It's much easier to have the option of just going to a website and checking your email, and once you start using this option you'll tend to want to use this website even when you get home-- even though at home you are actually free to run whatever your favorite email program-- because it's pleasant to have a single consistent interface every single time that you check your email, whereever in the world you are.

Of course, I don't use GMail, but the above logic is why even at home on my mac, I pretty much always check my email by sshing into a remote shell and using this command line mail program I sort of like. Ssh is pretty much available everywhere, and unlike webpages all ssh clients are actually compliant with one another...

Doesn't work with NT4

Generally, I'm not logged into the net at home on a 24 hour basis - I disconnect my DSL whenever I don't need it. Paranoia can have its advantages.

Anyways, I need this tool at work. And some of us are still stuck with NT4 at work until the end of the year (when support dies and they finally upgrade us). This tool doesn't work with NT4, and I gather it doesn't work with 95/98/ME from the installer's error message. Just a heads-up for everyone.

Personally, GTray [torrez.us] works fine for me.

The iTunes model

What I find increasingly interesting is how Microsoft's competitors-- now that it's been made clear that united states antitrust law is not going to be enforced-- are trying to get around the Microsoft OS monopoly with what amounts to shareware. Microsoft has the power to create the default configuration for the vast majority of PCs, and since traditionally few users have stepped away from the default configuration this means Microsoft has the ability to dictate many things, from what formats will gain popularity to what web standards succeed or fail. If Microsoft desires, it can install a piece of software on every new copy of Windows in the world. Those companies that are not Microsoft do not have this luxury. Some of them now appear to be circumventing this by just trying to create random pieces of "must-have" software for free and bundling the service or format that they are actually making their money from with it.

For example, iTunes. Apple needs people to have support for Quicktime; however, they have no way of making Windows users want to install Quicktime. Webpages that require Quicktime will, of course, force you to download it, but such pages would seem likely to become scarce as webmasters realize that every computer has WMP already and using WMP instead of Quicktime will not require their users to download a plugin. Apple's solution is to create a music player program for Windows that is considered by many to be the best there is, which everybody then wants to download and try out. As a process of doing this, these people inadvertently wind up installing Quicktime. End result: every computer has Quicktime already.

Google here is just another example. Google appears to be anticipating that at some point Microsoft will start using its space within the desktop to promote some engine of its own and dissuade the use of Google. Google is reacting to this by trying to get a toehold into the desktop of their own, using things such as the Google Toolbar and now, the GMail notifier. Both of these things will be installed by users for purposes largely irrelivant to Google's search-- the former for popup blocking, the latter for mail-- yet doing this means that Google builds up inertia with everyone who "just has" to download their Google tools after every system upgrade. This means that when the system update comes where Microsoft decides that every time you accidentally control-click on a word displayed on the screen it will open up Internet Explorer and search for it in MSN Search, Google can use their toehold in the desktop to undo this change and replace it with something (1) useful and (2) involving google search.

This approach hits Microsoft hard where it hurts; Microsoft is excellent at creating software. However, historically they have by and large failed at creating good software. Microsoft's strategy of destroying competitors by bundling their own special brand of mediocre with roughly equivilent functionality for "free" with the OS doesn't work anymore once people start to wind up downloading the software of Microsoft's competitors free just because it's better.

Why such a big fuss?

Isnt this kind of notifier common with other email service providers (yahoo and hotmail)?! So what makes it so special?

And with other email service providers beefing up the storage space, one would have thought this pre-occupation with a gigabyte email-storage would be over!

This is awesome! This sucks!

Ok, so I started with this huge happy giggle when I saw this... exactly what I've been waiting for to fully switch to gmail. I love Gmail, but currently stick to Yahoo since Y!IM will let me know when I have new mail, and that's a feature I desperately need. I considered some of the third-party equivalants, like Pop Goes the Gmail [jaybe.org], but they rely on hacking through the website and all it takes is a change from GMail to break them.

But then I noticed that it was for Win2k/XP/2k3 only. WTF? That's great for home, but at work (where I spend most of my time), I'm stuck on Windows ME!! So now this sucks as much as it rocks. I'm sad.

Personally, I wish Google had taken my suggestion to heart: password-protected RSS feeds of your email subjects. Then anybody could write a 3rd party notifier.

Available wherever Firefox is

I've been enjoying both of those key functionalities on every platform I use, by way of two excellent firefox extensions: Gmail Notifier [mozilla.org] and Gmail Compose [mozilla.org].

what about something for Freedesktops?

KDE/GNOME?

That's a good idea, but

What I'd like to see is a little app to sit in the system tray and let me know when I'll get a GMail account.

I don't get it

OK, somebody explain to me what the big deal with a GMail account is. As far as I can tell it's just free webmail with 1Gb storage. Yet people are so excited about it. Why?

I mean, free webmail is everywhere. I have untold gigs of storage on my HD and unused old HDs in the closet and I have never come close to more than a meg or so of saved email (if people send me pictures I want to keep, I just detach the file and save it somewhere else).

So am I missing something here?

you want a gmail account?

I can send you an invite for [puts pinky to mouth] one Million Dollars!

mailto handler

That mailto handler is a pretty cool idea, I don't think I've seen that before. Is there a mailto handler for any other web based email service like Yahoo? That would be handy for my mom, who doesn't understand the whole mailto thing.

On a slightly related/unrelated note, some people here are mentioning webmail to pop conversion programs like yahoo pops and pop goes the gmail. Does anyone know if there's such a program available for everyone.net webmail users?

About the "mailto:" mail handler...

While Gmail Notifier DOES open a new compose window, be aware that unless you check the "keep me logged in for two weeks" checkbox on the login screen, you will have to log in every time, even if you are already logged into Gmail in another browser window.

While it's a bit cumbersom, at least it's still more secure...

Re:Where is the notifier for

In the increasingly useful gdesklets framewrok:
http://gdesklets.gnomedesktop.org/cate gories.php?f unc=gd_show_app&gd_app_id=171

That's my address and I have no invites

I am [e-mail] and I have not had Gmail invites for a month. Any particular reason you're trying to get Slashdot users to spam me?